Court win for Italian nuclear policy

24 June 2010

A claim against Italy's national nuclear policy brought by eleven regional governments has been rejected by the Constitutional Court.

The claim had been filed in February by 11 regions that said a pro-nuclear policy should not have been brought in without proper consultation. Imposing a unilateral decision was an abuse of power by the government, the regions said, because 2001 reform of the Italian constitution shared competence on energy between central and local governments.

The region of Piemonte withdrew its support from the claim in early June, to leave ten objections before the court, while observers discussed whether energy was a strategic sector that should be under the sole authority of central government. It was said that some of the regional heads were pushing for a federal system.

Yesterday the claim was officially rejected by the Constitutional Court as partially unfounded and therefore not admissable.

Meanwhile, Stefano Saglia, under-secretary of economic development, said that "the government is willing to pursue its nuclear energy policy respecting the constitution and the regions." And visiting the Flamanville nuclear power plant in France, Stefania Prestigiacomo, minister for the environment, invited environmentalists to look at nuclear energy without sterotypes or prejudice.

The search for a new minister for economic development to replace Claudio Scajola continues following his resignation to battle corruption charges in early May. Prime minister Solvio Berlusconi has not yet announced a successor for Scajola, with his government under pressure from European financial crisis and domestic political trouble.